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I’m back from vacation in Denmark and Germany, where I was able to experience almost every type of transportation, from bicycles to scooters, to motorway driving and train rides. I even took some phrases. It’s safe to say that Copenhagen’s bike culture made me envious.
The TechCrunch team has been busier than ever thanks to… Tesla Shareholders meeting, many financing deals and developments in the world of electric cars. Great: Fisker Submit to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy And here A Calendar of events Which led to the bankruptcy filing as well as the chief correspondent Sean O’Kane piece about Why did Fisker fail?.
In case you missed it, I also highly recommend this one In-depth reported article (from late May) by O’Kane who exposed the many problems within Fisker.
Little birds
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosek at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.comSean O’Kane in sean.okane@techcrunch.com Or Rebecca Bellan in rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check These instructions To learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Deals!
The biggest deal this week comes from a self-driving trucking company Guaranteed. Raised the company 200 million dollars In a round from existing investors Uber and Khosla Ventures, along with a number of strong strategic investors such as Nvidia, Volvo Group VC, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and more.
Waabi plans to use the funds to reach a fully driverless commercial launch in 2025, but that’s not the only reason why investors are so optimistic about the emerging startup. Waabi’s generative AI foundational model is able to think almost as a human would, without needing large amounts of real-world data to train on, according to the startup’s founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun. This makes the AI system more capital efficient and easier to scale in autonomous trucking and beyond.
Artificial intelligence’s ability to generalize and evolve quickly means Wabi can expand the technology to include other applications, such as robotics, humanoid robots or warehouse robots, Urtasun said.
Other deals that caught my attention…
Bit sensor raised a $25 million Series B To further develop high-resolution radar technology for autonomous vehicles. Investors include Korea Development Bank, HL Mando Corporation, Industrial Bank of Korea and Ajo Capital.
LD Carbon It raised $28 million In a Series C round led by Toyota’s growth fund, Woven Capital, to advance the circular economy by diverting used tires from landfills. The startup also aims to develop high-performance recycled car parts, according to a statement sent to TechCrunch.
RBWEVa London-based electric car manufacturer of new classic hand-crafted British sports cars, Raised £10 million From Mason Capital Partners. The startup currently offers the Roadster model starting at about $135,000 and plans to debut a GT model later this year with a starting price of $151,000.
Unigrid Starch 12 million dollars In a round led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital to manufacture sodium-ion batteries, which promise to be a cheaper and safer alternative that can complement lithium-ion batteries.
Notable Readings and Other Stories
Self-driving vehicles
a University of Central Florida The study suggests that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are safer than humans in routine conditions during daylight hours. But in other circumstances they struggle, according to new world.
California Senator Dave Cortez on the shelf for him Bill SB 915 (which would give cities more control over the deployment of autonomous vehicles) after an Assembly committee proposed amendments that would strip the bill of its original intent. The autonomous vehicle industry sees this as a win, but Cortez said he will eventually reintroduce it.
Project 3 Mobilitya Croatia-based self-driving car startup, which he co-founded Matty Rimacis set up to do what it describes as “Big reveal” On June 26th. As a reminder, the company recently raised €100 million ($107 million) in a Series A round that included backing from TASARU Mobility Investments, a company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Electric cars, charging and batteries
Chinese automaker and battery maker BYD Signed a memorandum of understanding with Ampersand, an African electric power technology company, to decarbonize the commercial motorcycle transportation system in Africa. The deal sees Ampersand purchase BYD battery cells to build about 40,000 e-scooters by the end of 2026.
Charge Point He is As a team With South Korea LG Electronics To install more electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. As part of the deal, ChargePoint will provide software to power LG’s electric vehicle chargers, and LG will supply hardware to enhance the ChargePoint network.
revel The startup announced that it has hired two more former Tesla employees to leadership positions on its electric vehicle infrastructure team. This appears to be part of a growing trend of automakers and electric vehicle charging companies snapping up the best talent that Elon Musk appears to have. Fired on a whim Six weeks ago.
the last Workers at General Motors’ battery cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio Vote to ratify A new contract will give production workers $35 an hour by October 2027, plus benefits and health and safety protections.
Tesla
Tesla The shareholders’ meeting was held last Thursday after a meeting An unprecedented battle on social media Launched by Musk and Tesla fans. It should surprise no one that investors I voted to approve Elon Musk’s astronomical pay package. They also voted to reincorporate Tesla in Texas.
Now Tesla is starting Struggle for legal recognition By shareholder vote. The automaker wrote to a Delaware judge who, in January, ruled on Musk’s pay package. It was unfair to say that the shareholder vote “significantly influences” its ruling to invalidate the pay.
This isn’t the only legal battle Tesla has fought over the past week. While some shareholders want to give Musk everything he asked for, others stand up to him. A group of contributors He filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla’s board of directors Last week, they claimed they breached fiduciary duties and unjustly enriched Musk by allowing the CEO to launch xAI, which they say is a competing artificial intelligence company.
Miscellaneous.
Fast trade The number of startups promising 15-minute delivery has risen and fallen in US cities. But in India, The sector is growing Combined with the country’s rapid urbanization. Will Indian commerce startups, which are increasingly moving into the e-commerce market, be able to find product-market fit and strong unit economics where US startups have not been able to?
Wheels this week
What are “This Week’s Wheels”? It’s an opportunity to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike or even a ride in a self-driving vehicle. In the coming weeks, we will share our views on Fiat 500ea few e-bikes, Nissan Ariya Empower+ 2024And more.